Going Under
by Torashii
Summary: The transition into becoming a Noah is a difficult process to get through. Allen doesn't need to worry however, the Noah take care of their young. Poker Pair. Noah!Allen.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** – This was supposed to be some light-hearted Poker Pair stuff. Didn't exactly go according to plan but /shrugs. It's set after the rewinding town incident but before the whole general search has started.

* * *

The first sign that Allen's day wasn't going to turn out as well as he'd hoped came in the form of a sharp jolt of pain that invaded his head. Unfortunately he was in the middle of his morning exercises at the time – specifically the one where both balance and strength was tested by completing push-ups on a tilted chair. The pain was so sudden and sharp that he found himself falling, and with a yell, he crashed to the floor. Almost immediately afterwards, an equally painful jolt ran through his left arm, and the young exorcists only just managed to stop from crying out. Gritting his teeth, he staggered onto his feet, leaning against walls for support. His vision was sporadically darkening, and he suddenly felt light-headed. It was highly surprising to the exorcist, given that he usually took good care of his own body, but Allen was quite familiar with the symptoms a lack of nutrition would give him – having experienced it several times as a child. Maybe later he'd go to the infirmary to check if his arm somehow broke in his fall, but first he decided to get some food in his system before he passed out.

It was still ungodly early, given that he usually started his morning routine at 5AM, so the hallways were relatively clear, besides for the odd scientist that looked just as dead on their feet as he did. Eventually he managed to get to the cafeteria. A few finders were scattered around, and only one other exorcist. Much to the white haired teen's dread, it was Kanda. As Allen went to queue up behind the swordsman, he was the one trying to vehemently deny the other existed for once. While they still had an antagonistic relationship, Kanda knew him well enough to realise just how bad he was feeling in a heartbeat if they decided to talk. And even if the swordsman decided not to force Allen to have himself checked out, he could very well let slip or Lavi, or _god's forbid, _Leenalee about his condition. Unfortunately for the young exorcist, his bad luck was only getting started.

"Oi, idiot beansprout. Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to order something?"

Godammit he'd been spacing out.

"My name is Allen, stupid Kanda." He muttered in response, wincing when his retort felt weak, even to his own ears.

Kanda frowned. He seemed to be gearing up to say something, before he was interrupted by the arrival of the head chef.

"Good morning Allen dear! What would you like?" Jerry whipped out a notepad, all sparkles and enthusiasm even at the early hour it was.

With a grunt of annoyance, Kanda took his food (Soba – _surprise, surprise_) before leaving. He eyed Allen in consideration before he left, and the younger exorcist bit back a groan. He only hoped that the Japanese boy would chose to tell Lavi that he'd been acting oddly (because he would be telling someone instead of finding out why himself), rather than Leenalee. No matter how nice she was, Allen had never been subjected to such overbearing care within his entire lifetime, and he doubted he'd ever be fully comfortable with it.

Contrary to popular speculation that their relationship was a love-hate one where they couldn't voice their true feelings for each other (of which Allen had heard at some point were supposedly romantic. He had choked on his food at the time), Allen and Kanda genuinely disliked each other from the moment they met. Over time they simply learnt to deal with each other, and tolerate the other's presence for the sake of their respective friends (Lavi for Allen, and Leenalee for Kanda). However Allen knew the other boy still wouldn't disregard poor physical health. If Allen was depressed, the swordsman probably wouldn't bat an eyelid, but they often (unfortunately) were paired up for missions and so relied upon each other, and Kanda probably knew that Leenalee would get him involved in some scheme to corner him and find out what was wrong if he didn't outright tell her. Not to mention she would probably scold him if she learnt he'd already known.

Fortunately – or more likely unfortunately – Allen didn't have to worry about Kanda telling his friends anything of the sort. As soon as he turned around to answer Jerry, he was overcome with an even stronger bout of dizziness, and somehow found himself rushing headfirst, towards the floor. He could vaguely hear panicked shouts before his vision went entirely black.

The first thing Allen noticed when he awoke was the throbbing headache he had. The second was the (loud, far too loud) voices coming from somewhere on his left. Tentatively, he opened his eyes, only to groan loudly and shut them tighter when the bright white lights of the infirmary sent sharp pains through his already pounding head. His awakening immediately caught the attention of the other people within the room. Immediately there was a female exorcist by his side.

"Allen? Allen? Are you okay?" Leenalee was painfully loud in her proximity, and Allen couldn't stop himself wincing at the words that sounded like shouts to his delicate senses.

He was indefinitely thankful when he could feel someone pry her away from his bed. Lavi's voice – low and soothing, met his ears.

"Leave him be for a minutes, 'kay? We need matron to check him out."

Allen grimaced, but made no protest against a check up. He was planning on doing one anyway, he told himself, while answering the questions of the elderly woman. To say she was unimpressed he had ignored a potentially injured arm was an understatement. However she was no expert upon innocence, and could only give him a sling for it, given that it was painful to move. His headache served more of a problem. Allen could barely open his eyes to the light, and if he kept them open too long, he'd tear up. After Leenalee was sent into a frenzy _again_ at this, the matron ordered her to leave, earning her the young exorcist's infinite gratitude.

"Migraine," matron eventually concluded. There was little that could be done for a migraine, so she dimmed the lights, gave him some pain killers (forcing him to eat gruel so that he wouldn't be taking them on an empty stomach) and ordered him to rest. Under no uncertain circumstances would she let him be discharged until the pain had cleared.

The drugs soon put him into a fitful and restless sleep. His dreams were plagued by nightmares. Broken images and memories, not all of which he thought were his own. He awoke several times during the night, arms outreached in search of something that wasn't there. At first he thought it was a childish impulse from when Mana would take care of him when he was sick, but he soon realised he was not searching for the warm feeling of his former guardian. The urge for reassurance confused him, especially from another person, but not one person he thought of seemed to feel _right_. The confusion added with the broken, disrupted sleep left Allen more tired when he awoke for the last time the next day, than before he went to sleep in the first place.

Needless to say, Allen was considerably irritated by the time he was allowed visitors. He'd managed to remain civil with matron, given that she was the one caring for him – and she was hardly irritating – but he couldn't hold back a sigh when four familiar figures entered the ward, evidently intent on visiting him. Komui was being towed by his younger sister, although he didn't seem as unwilling as Kanda, who was being practically dragged towards his bed by one cheerful bookman apprentice. His nerves were stretched thing enough with the lack of sleep and throbbing skull, never mind adding four nuisances on top of it.

With a frown, the young exorcist realised he was being uncharacteristically irritable. Even with a headache, he doubted he would normally label his comrades as nuisances so easily. Before he could give much thought to the subject, he was startled by a red haired exorcist, who really wasn't doing himself any favours in proving that he wasn't that annoying.

"Lavi!" Allen wheezed, pushing at the bookman apprentice who'd deemed it appropriate to fling himself at the white haired teen in a mockery of a hug. "Get off, you're crushing me."

"Aww, you're so cold to me, Allen baby," Lavi pouted. Unfortunately for the older boy his demeanour was anything but the 'cute, innocent' look he was trying to portray, and so he was promptly shoved off the bed by an irritated Allen. He was about to resume bothering the white haired exorcist but dirty looks from both the nearby matron and the bed's occupant himself quickly put end to that idea.

"So," Komui interrupted, clearing his throat. "How are you feeling today, Allen?"

"Not so well." Which was a massive understatement. The young exorcist groaned as another spike of pain ran through him, resting his head in the single palm he could move. If anything, it was getting _worse._

He could practically feel the worried gazes of Leenalee and Lavi. A quick glance at them revealed their uncertain, fearful expressions. Even Kanda seemed slightly apprehensive, and if his rival seemed worried them he must have looked like shit_. _Despite their worry, he actually felt like shit, and couldn't muster the energy to put on his usual facade.

"Ahem, well. I heard your innocence was hurting you?" Komui coughed uncertainly, slightly unnerved by the change in the young exorcist. "Can you invoke it for us?"

In some part of his mind, Allen thought it was a bad idea. He was surprised at the intensity of his reluctance to activate his innocence, which was ridiculous. It was his _innocence _after all, the one thing he could count upon to keep him alive. And he was an exorcist. There was absolutely no way he would be afraid of his own weapon. Then it all went to hell.

Too late, he realised what a mistake it was to ignore the warning of his mind. He clutched at his arm, which was so warm it seemed like it was burning, trying to work through the haze of his pain filled mind. Distinctly, he realised that someone was screaming, before he realised _he _was the one who was screaming. However the realisation didn't help him much, as a twin pain, similar in intensity, started in his head. The young exorcist was stuck between clutching his arm or his head as he drove his vocal cords to become hoarse. At some point he could feel hands gripping him tightly, and he realised it was to stop his nails from clawing into his forehead. A small of prick of pain was felt in his neck, and the next thing Allen knew, darkness overcame him.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **ty for the reviews /o/

kurie-tibiti –Hue, thanks. Here it is.

CloudCarnivore – I'm writing again of what I've posted so that I hopefully won't have those really big breaks between updates .w.;

Huny Bajer – Awh, how considerate, thank you '^' Thank you. I guess I'm the type that adds backdrop through the middle of stories eheh

i love pink – I do like torturing him /o/ Thank you ne

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A figure shot up in his bed, glancing around frantically. After a moment, the young man, Tyki Mikk, allowed himself relax, satisfied his warning signals weren't triggered by anything within his room. Regardless of the fact that he was deep within the protection of the Earl's mansion, it did well to keep a habit of vigilance – especially with siblings like his own (Road could be more dangerous than an exorcist any day). After coming to this realisation, he frowned. There were only few possibilities that would worry him so, the first being immediate danger and the second being the other Noah. After a quick introspection he realised his own inner Noah was restless, clawing to be free. It was surprising to the Third Apostle that he hadn't realised sooner, and the same restless anxiety that possessed his inner Noah possessed him.

Just as he was considering getting dressed to see the Earl, a knock on the door jostled him out of his thoughts.

"Enter."

An akuma maid opened the door before bowing. She stayed upon the threshold, keeping her head lowered respectfully.

"Master Earl has requested the presence of the Noah."

"I'll be there in ten minutes." Tyki waved his hand in a clear dismissal, and the maid soon left. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair before pulling the sheets of him. Usually he'd take much longer getting dressed, but there was no calming his inner Noah. He was also highly curious as to what could have happened to warrant such a sudden family meeting.

To his surprise, he seemed to be the last one to enter the dining room. A quick look around proved that the rest of his family was just as anxious as he was. The twins were shifting around, butting each other in the head with their guns. Road was twirling a candle around, minus the usual grin she wore. Skin simply seemed even angrier than usual. Even Lulu Bell was in cat form, twitching with restrained restlessness every so often. The Earl sat at the head of the dining table, his grin sharper than usual.

"Thank you for making it Tyki pet. Sheryl unfortunately is busy, so you're the last one."

The Noah of pleasure inclined his head, before taking his usual seat next to Road. Now that they were all (mostly) present, they each looked to the Earl in anticipation to find out what was going on. After a moment, the Earl cleared his throat to start.

"It seems as though one of our brothers is awakening."

Tyki blinked, and a few audible gasps (most likely from the twins) were heard. The Earl however put up his hand for silence.

"Before we get ahead of ourselves, there seems to be some complications."

He felt Road tense besides him. Quietly, though in the tense atmosphere of the room it was heard clearly, she spoke up.

"Millenie... is it him?"

The Earl nodded solemnly, and Tyki could sense he wasn't the only one confused by the exchange. As if prompted by their questioning gazes, the Earl explained.

"You all know what it's like to awaken, hm?" A series of nods occurred. "And you all know of the Fourteenth, yes?" Nods again, although some with less conviction. Satisfied, the Earl continued. "The Fourteenth had never been incarnated into a human before. And especially with those who have released their inner Noah before, you know how big the difference between the original Noah from which your memories came, and humans."

Road nodded intently, as if she had personally experienced both existences. Considering she was the eldest after the Earl, Tyki mused that it wasn't unlikely.

"When the Fourteenth incarnated almost four decades ago, it was entirely unexpected, and we arrived later than normal. The host refused to leave his human brother, and so the assimilation was imperfect. The Noah memory was inexperienced with incarnating, and the host was constantly repressing his Noah during the transformation as to protect his brother." The Earl's grin dimmed and several Noah had solemn expressions. Everyone present could already tell it was a prescription for disaster.

Tyki swallowed, before asking the inevitable question. "What happened to him?"

"He went mad." It was Road who answered, her voice low and sad, as if she could remember the event as if it had only happened the day before. "He was constantly repressing his Noah to stay in contact with his human brother. In the end the duplicity made him go out of control."

Grim faces processed the news. It was obvious what ultimately ended up happening to their unfortunate brother. At some point, a flash of understanding descended upon them.

"Master." Lulu Bell spoke from within her feline form. "The one who is awakening now is the Fourteenth?" She phrased the question like a statement, even though it hardly needed answering. The Earl nodded regardless.

"Yes. This time we can recognise him, having seen him before."

Tyki frowned. That couldn't be all of it, the restless anxiety he felt still hadn't abated. "But...?"

"But it seems the Fourteenth has some exceptionally back luck." Nobody seemed to find any amusement in those words as they waited for explanation. "It's most likely an accident of his predecessor, but this time his host is an exorcist."

Dramatic gasps could be heard from the twins, but they weren't alone in their surprise. Skin gripped the table hard enough to leave dents, and even Lulu Bell let out a startled hiss.

"The presence of Innocence will try to delay the transformation and they won't be able to absorb enough dark matter. If the host is only an equipment type it won't be as bad as if they are a parasitic type however."

"Knowing his bad luck, it's probably the latter." Tyki muttered. Road shot him a bad look, as if he'd make it true by saying it, but the rest ignored him.

"The only thing we can celebrate is that the Fourteenth's inner Noah will not allow itself to be repressed this time around. This means the host will be a lot more instinct driven, and any previous mentality that had them associating with the Black Order will be overpowered."

"What are we waiting for?" Lulu Bell went straight to the point. "We should retrieve him as soon as possible."

"Unfortunately the last encounter the Fourteenth had with all the Noah together hadn't been very pleasant." The Earl's smile twisted, as if 'unpleasant' was a great understatement. "I think it appropriate to only send one person to retrieve our wayward brother."

"I'll go." Surprising even himself, Tyki immediately volunteered. He blinked, wondering why he felt so strongly about being the one to go. A newly awakened Noah seemed like more of a handful than he could be bothered for.

"No fair Tyki! I wanna go." Road pouted childishly, though the Noah of pleasure could see the challenge in her eyes.

"It's not only me. Joyd wants to go too." Tyki grimaced for a moment. "I don't think he'd let me stay, actually."

Ignoring Road's protests, Tyki looked towards the Earl, who seemed to have gotten an amused gleam in his eye. His smile widened at something that seemed to be lost upon the rest, but eventually he nodded happily.

"Sorry Road dear, Tyki pet can have this."

"_No_ _fair._" The childish Noah continued complaining, but didn't insist upon going again.

"Then I'll leave right away." Tyki stood up, deciding to ignore the Earl's amused grin, as he went to prepare.

– x –

Bleary grey eyes opened slowly. The owner of them blinked several times, as if they couldn't register whatever they saw. The infirmary was still and darkness could be seen outside the only window. Evidently it was in the middle of the night, and Allen couldn't pinpoint what exactly had woken him.

"Alert, Alert. The Order has been breached. All exorcists prepare to fight. Alert, Alert..."

Ah, that was it. The repeated warning was accompanied by a loud, blearing alarm that did nothing to placate the young exorcist's headache. Still, the white haired teen clumsily removed his blanket, shivering as the cold hit his skin. At least the cold seemed to have woken him up a little more, and so, with less clumsiness, Allen sat upright and got onto his feet. He was still partially in his uniform – the leather trousers and shirt was there – but his feet were bare. Some part of him insisted that going around barefooted, going to a _fight _without his boots, wouldn't be very wise, but its voice was drowned out by the overwhelming need to go and meet the intruder.

As he staggered through the corridors, Allen caught the sight of himself in a window. He looked ill, his skin pale and sickly looking. His Innocence arm lay useless by his side, the green glow that usually inhabited it dim, almost faded, as before it was activated. For some reason, neither of these things seemed to strike any worry through the fog in Allen's mind. He simply continued walking towards the sounds of battle, and soon the shouts became louder, and the destructive evidence lay around him. Injured or dead (Allen couldn't really tell) finders and scientists lay scattered around. A few of them were conscious, trying to rescue their colleagues from the fray. Some had noticed him, letting out startled exclamations as the exorcist who by all accounts should not have been outside of the infirmary walked by. If he heard any of their calls of his name, Allen made no indication that he did.

After a few blinks, Allen realised he had already made his way to the heart of the battle. The lab he found himself in lay in disarray, and he could spot several akuma engaged in battle with exorcists scattered around the area. An explosion nearby him caused him to stagger, the scattered rubble scraping his cheek. He put his hand to the cut, drawing it back to look at the blood as if it was the first time he had seen the substance. Suddenly a hand grabbed his arm, dragging him backwards and away from another blast.

"... Allen! Allen! What's gotten into you?"

As if that was the trigger to wake him out of the daze that had been holding him, Allen shook his head as if to shake off the sleep, looking at the redhead who had grasped him in confusion.

"Lavi? What's going on?" Another explosion, this time closer to the pair, occurred, and an akuma appeared.

"We're under attack!" The bookman apprentice was dragging Allen like a ragdoll as he manoeuvred them both away from an akuma attack. He quickly fended off their assailant with his Innocence before looking back at the small teen in his grasp.

"What are you doing here Allen? You have you leave; you're in no condition to fight."

"No!" The boy in question shook his head vehemently. He couldn't leave, he _needed _to be there. There was something, something he was looking for and he couldn't leave without it.

The shouted protest contained enough conviction to surprise both exorcists – Allen almost never rose his voice, but while Lavi was frozen in shock, Allen used to opportunity to tug himself free from the redhead's grip. However, the young exorcist was already unsteady on his feet, and Lavi's grip had already loosened, and so overestimating the strength needed, he staggered backwards. He started to fall, onto to collide into the chest of an unknown person. In front of him, he could see Lavi's eyes widen in fear.

"Oh, what's this?" A low voice purred in his ear, seemingly amused. "A lost exorcist?"

Allen was sure, absolutely positive, he'd never heard this voice before. He couldn't identity a face to go with the voice, but something inside of him had recognised the presence behind him. A deep joy ran through the white haired teen, when finally, _finally, _the presence he had been looking for had been found. Unconsciously, he relaxed into the other person's (a man's, by the sound of it) touch, and smiling, a name slipped unbidden from his mouth.

"Joyd."

Tyki froze, hearing his name slip from the small exorcist in his arms. It seemed amusing at first, to see one of them stagger around injured, even more amusing when he managed to collide with himself – the enemy. And then he'd spoken his name, and a deep, purring satisfaction came from his inner Noah. Recognition had struck throughout the Noah of pleasure. The young boy in his arms was _him_, the Fourteenth.

"Hello, little one." Tyki practically _purred_, his inner Noah ecstatic with finding their newest member. "I think I'll take you with me."

Suddenly a sword-wielding exorcist was in front of them, and Tyki just had enough time to jump back to dodge the blow. Sometime in the middle of it all, another redheaded exorcist grabbed the boy and retreated. Tyki could hear him chastising the boy (Allen, his name was Allen) for running into an enemy like that. Both Tyki and his inner Noah bristled. They were not enemies! They belonged together more than the boy belonged at this godforsaken order. Part of Tyki was satisfied, however, to see that Allen wasn't listening in the slightest, merely struggling in the other boy's grip to return to his side.

"Now, now. There's no need to fight." Tyki drawled, trying to reign in the protective fury that overcame him from seeing Allen being restrained by another man. After all, the exorcist didn't know who Allen was. "All I need for you is to return to me that boy you took."

"You can't have him." The red-headed exorcist growled, and Tyki was really starting to dislike him. "He belongs with us."

"Au contraire, he really does belong with me. I don't know if the little fledgling himself knows that he's a Noah, but I have to take him either way you see."

The shocked faced of both exorcists was more than worth it, and in the distraction it seemed his boy managed to break free. Using their surprise against them, Tyki sent the sword-wielding exorcist flying, moving forwards to catch the little fledgling that had sprinted towards him in his arms. The white haired boy clung to his shirt, as if afraid he'd be ripped away once more. The elder Noah started rubbing soothing circles on the other's back, mentally redirecting a couple of level threes to cover for them.

Drawing back, the Noah of pleasure looked down towards his new charge, taking in and analysing his appearance. The most striking object wasn't the snow-white hair (although it was particularly striking in its own right), but the wide, silver eyes that were staring right back at him. With a painful twist Tyki observed how they were glazed with confusion and pain – the boy seemed barely lucid. His skin was far too light, only bordering upon a pale grey and Tyki's inner Noah growled at how the other boy's transformation was delayed and made more painful by the Innocence around them. Tyki growled out loud when he saw that the boy had (and he just _had _to have) a parasitic Innocence, which probably made it all the more painful for him.

The little Noah seemed to flinch back at his reaction, and Tyki only became more enraged that the reaction was probably born out of several negative encounters with people who disliked the red appendage. Reigning in his anger, so that the little one wouldn't misunderstand, Tyki resumed stroking him in a comforting manner.

"We have to leave, little fledgling. Will you come with me?"

The boy looked around, as if evaluating what he'd be leaving behind. A couple other exorcists, the redheaded one and an Asian girl, were both shouting at his little one to stay with them. He could see Allen's eyes roam over them, before returning back to him. Slowly, he nodded.

Tyki had to restrain the grin that threatened to encompass his face. He grasped his new charge tightly before making his way back to the gate that had brought him there in the first place.

"Then let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: idek what this chapter is tbh

Kusabiishi - ja, explanations come at some point later .w. and thanks yo

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Allen wasn't quite aware of where he was going, or who exactly was taking him there. The name 'Joyd' repeated in his mind like a happy mantra, but all Allen was concerned about was how utterly safe and peaceful the other person made him feel, simply by being there. There was never any element of safety as a child, not on the streets where life was harsh, or at the circus where he had to constantly be on the lookout for Cosimo. Even with Mana he had to be careful about his arm, always fearing that one day it would be seen and something bad would happen to him. Then later with Cross and the Order, the potential for an akuma attack never really allowed him to rest and feel truly at peace, as he did in the stranger's arms.

The young exorcist – well ex-exorcist turned Noah, unless the Order accepted Noah among their ranks, which Allen doubted. Even if they did, the mere thought of having to fight against the Noah caused him to hiss. He saw the stranger that was carrying him lift an eyebrow. Regardless, the young Noah found himself being carried through a city – a large, seemingly abandoned city with white walls and blue skies. The strange and sudden change in atmosphere was somewhat surreal, but there was a distinctness about the city, a familiarity, that made him feel like he was returning home.

"We're almost there, little one."

Allen didn't know where 'there' was, but the feeling of peace and security remained in the odd city, and so he wasn't going to argue. Soon a mansion came into view, and the stranger continued to head towards it. Upon entering, he could distinctly hear raised voices. The elder man didn't hesitate before heading in the general direction of the voices. They went down several corridors, the twists and turns making Allen dizzy. Soon they came across a door, and without knocking, the stranger opened it.

Several people lay beyond the door, frozen as if they had been caught doing something they weren't supposed to have done. It didn't take them long to recover. A young girl, seemingly aged around eleven, bounded towards them.

"Allen! It's Allen! Oh this is _great_."

The boy in question cringed away from Road, bringing one hand up to his eye in remembrance of the second time it had been cut through. She seemed to notice his action, for she slowed down and kept her distance.

"Ah, I'm really sorry Allen. If I knew it was you, I wouldn't have stabbed you in the eye." She pouted sadly at him.

"You _what_?"

"Don't be dramatic Tyki." The child Noah rolled her eyes. "We were on different sides back then."

"You still don't go meeting people and then stabbing them in the eye!"

"And you're saying you haven't done worse after meeting an exorcist, Mr. Let-me-rip-your-heart-out." Road shot back.

Allen winced, holding his hand over his chest. Tyki spluttered, desperately wanting to deny it and comfort his little Noah, but being unable to given that it was true. He was saved from choosing with the interruption of the Earl.

"Now, now children. Let's not scare away our new brother already." His tone was light hearted, but his smile was sharp in warning. "Let's see how Allen pet is doing, hm?"

The Earl stepped forwards, noticing how Allen's eyes widened in fear and recognition. However the ex-exorcist didn't step back, instead clutching tighter onto Tyki's shirt for comfort. The Earl reached his hand out, slowly but steadily, as if approaching a wounded animal, and waited for Allen to take it. The little Noah took a look at the offered hand, before glancing back at the Third Apostle. The Noah of pleasure nodded encouragingly. Looking back, Allen paused for a moment before reaching out and clasping the other's hand tightly. The Earl's grin widened, before he gently pulled the boy closer. He looked over him in consideration, taking in the health of the poor Noah.

The Earl tsked. "You really are lucky you escaped there as soon as you did, Allen pet." Seeing the confused gaze of his newest child, the Earl explained. "You haven't been awakening properly, and it isn't very healthy. But not to worry! Your family can fix it easily, the damage hasn't gotten too far you see." Patting the young Noah's head absently, the Earl started muttering absently under his breath about solutions to the problem.

The white haired Noah fledgling stood in a daze. Some of him had been frightened meeting all the new people. They were dangerous it told him, and he was certain it was right. Another part had agreed they were dangerous, but not to him. They were safety something in him said, but all his memories claimed the opposite. Weren't they the enemy? Didn't the Earl feel of the misery of people, _his _misery?

Yet as soon as he thought so, something within him recoiled. It felt sick at the mere idea of the Noah being his enemies. Allen couldn't organise his thoughts, all the contrasts were making his head hurt. He didn't understand why he went with the one who had brought him there, or why he accepted the Earl's hand (but he did understand, because _he_ said it would be okay). Somehow, he just knew that the other man ('_Joyd'_, his mind whispered) could protect him. But he hadn't even met him before!

Had he?

The throbbing in his skull intensified, and Allen doubled over in pain. He clutched at his temples, fingernails digging in, as if trying to rip out whatever was hurting him. Like some response to the pain in his head, his innocence arm seemed to awaken, spreading agony throughout his body. He screamed, falling to his knees. Was his innocence activating? It wasn't supposed to be like that, it wasn't supposed to hurt. Throughout all his life, his red arm brought nothing but pain, and then it went to hurt him even more. Allen hadn't hated his innocence any more than he did at that precise moment.

Then suddenly there was a face in front of him. The worried face of his saviour appeared in his vision, and the sight allowed him to concentrate enough to get a grip. He whimpered, his throat sore from screaming, but refused to descend back into hysterics.

"Joyd." Allen gasped as another wave of pain wreaked through him. Tears fell from his eyes. "Joyd, help." He clenched his fingers tighter, tears now flowing freely. "Help me."

Tyki clenched his teeth at the state of the young Noah in front of him. He hadn't ever been as scared as when the boy had suddenly clutched his head, falling to his knees and started screaming. He vaguely felt the disgust and need to destroy that innocence invoked within him, but it was largely overrun by worry and fear. He could only kneel in front of his little Noah, holding him tightly. When the other had asked him for help, practically pleading, the heart he swore he never even knew exited almost broke right there.

"Shh. There, there, little one. It'll be okay." The Third apostle stroked Allen's head soothingly. Without pausing, he shot the Earl a pleading look.

The Earl, along with all the other Noah present looked on in worry. They knew it was Tyki's job to comfort the fledgling as his chosen one, but the need to comfort their brother and soothe his pain, when they could hear his cries and screams, was maddening. The Earl calculated their options, his grin shrinking. He didn't like them, but the innocence was forcefully invoking itself. The God crystal was practically eating its host out from the inside, attacking the Noah memory and dispersing the dark matter the fledgling needed to absorb. And Noah host or not, nobody could stay in the state of awakening for too long. The information from the Noah would trickle through without merging the actual memories, causing mental unbalance and conflict.

"Tyki, I need you to hold Allen still." The uncharacteristic absence of pet names had Tyki nodding immediately. The Earl was serious.

Grabbing his golem from inside his coat, the Earl drew his broadsword. Gasps could be heard from the other Noah.

"Master...?" Lulu Bell eyed the sword uncertainly. Surely the Noah patriarch would not try to kill one of their own?

"I need to separate the innocence Lulu dear. It's trying to kill him." The Noah shivered at the dark tone of which the last sentence was uttered by. The Noah patriarch was furious.

While he paled slightly, Tyki kept a firm hold on the still sobbing Noah in his arms, one hand around his waist and another holding the white haired head to his own shoulder.

"Road." His voice wavered slightly, and she nodded. Coming forwards and she grasped the innocence arm, hissing as it burnt her. Road held it outwards, allowing for the space for the Earl to do his work.

It was quick and ridiculously easy to sever the red arm with one movement of the sword. It landed with a thud, and even though Tyki had done worse – far worse- to humans, he felt somewhat sick at the sight. Allen screamed into his shoulder, sobbing loudly.

"Lulu, please." The Earl glanced at the severed innocence in distaste. The other Noah shared the sentiment, not only out natural dislike but because of the pain it had brought their brother. Reluctantly, the Noah of Lust obeyed, scooping the arm up with a grimace, and leaving the room to take it away.

"Allen? It's over now. The innocence can't hurt you any more." Tyki looked down at his charge in worry.

The Noah fledgling in question nodded almost unnoticeably against the older man. He had been going mad, with two great sources of pain, each getting stronger as if competing. And then someone had grabbed his arm, and it felt as if it had been ripped off. He had almost passed out in suffering, but slowly the headache retreated to less of a torment and more of a bad ache. The pain had cleared the haze in his mind, and finally Allen could think clearly. The area where his arm used to be (and he was taking it so calmly, wasn't he? Allen felt as if some part of him was in shock, and maybe it was, but a large part of him could feel nothing but relief) was throbbing badly, bordering on the levels he'd been enduring before. A soothing feeling came over his shoulder (stump, his mind helpfully replied – still far too calm to be normal), and the white haired boy looked up to see the Earl – the person who once caused the greatest torment of his life – looking down at him in... Worry? The Earl was gathering dark matter, pressing it to his wound. More and more was gathered, being shaped and solidified until with a blink, the little Noah saw himself with a brand new arm. It was entirely black, and there wasn't really much feeling from it, but Allen wiggled his fingers experimentally, watching in fascination as the black counterparts moved.

The young boy let out a tired grin, childishly happy about his new arm. Sure it wasn't normal looking, but at least it wasn't red and out to murder him.

"Thank you."

The Earl's eyebrows rose in surprise, but his grin widened nonetheless.

"You're welcome, Allen pet." Standing up swiftly, and patting himself free of dust, the Earl then looked at Tyki. "Come, Tyki pet. Let's find our new brother a room to rest in."

The Noah of Pleasure scooped up his charge, who clung to him tightly, resting his head against the older Noah's chest. Allen was feeling particularly drowsy, being both physically and emotionally drained. He could feel his headache, almost waiting to rise again – there being some impatient part of him that wanted whatever was going on to be over already. Thoughts sluggish being so close to sleep, Allen could barely form coherent protests. He was too tired for whatever it wanted. He needed some rest. The white haired boy only had time to confirm the other's acceptance before he drifted into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews /o/

* * *

When his dreams were plagued by broken fragments of memory and image once more, Allen found himself once more reaching out for the presence that would comfort him. This time, he found it curled up beside him, and suddenly the dreams weren't as frightening. At some point, the white haired boy must have drifted off into a peaceful sleep, because the next thing he knew, someone was shaking him awake.

"Boy. Hey boy? Come on, wake up."

Blinking the sleep out his eyes, Allen turned his bleary gaze towards the man he was unconsciously clinging to. He didn't recognise the bed they were on or the room they were in, and confusion ran rampant until the memories of the previous day slowly trickled into his mind. With a start, Allen looked down at him arm, to see that the events really did happen as an unfamiliar black appendage faced him.

"Not that I mind you clinging to me, but it's starting to get painful." The other man's voice was laced with amusement, and he smirked when Allen withdrew his hands in a fluster.

The quick movement brought a throb of pain to Allen's temples, and he winced in response. He hadn't noticed properly that the headache had yet to leave. There was a constant ache in his skull that seemed to only get bigger. At some point, the white haired boy thought that it would simply explode.

"Headache?" The playful tone was lost, as the older man looked on in worry.

Allen nodded, wincing again at the motion. '_Not a very smart move there._' Grimacing, he pushed down the urge to rub his temples, sure that it would only make things worse. He could almost feel his mind slipping again into the sea of confusion, broken pieces of information and conflicting emotions. He hadn't realised how deep in thought he was, until he suddenly noticed a pair of fingers clicking repeatedly in front of his face. Blearily he looked at their owner.

"I should get the Earl..." Tyki muttered to himself. He wasn't adept at dealing with this sort of situations. Although it was very unlikely that any Noah would be in the same position as the fourteenth had been in.

A hand reached out to grab his arm, and the Noah of pleasure looked to see Allen staring fearfully at him.

"Little one, we need the Earl to help you get better."

Allen didn't let go, simply shaking his head (despite the pain it caused) in protest. No matter what conflicting emotions or pieces of information he had, the one thing Allen could be sure upon was that the older man meant safety. He couldn't give it up, even for a short time. Luckily for both Noah, neither had to do anything. There was a knock upon the door, but it opened without an answer to reveal one Earl sporting a happy grin.

"Hello Tyki pet, Allen pet! Did you two sleep well?"

"Yes, Earl." Tyki responded, while Allen nodded.

"Good, good. Well now that we've ridden ourselves of that pesky Innocence, there's nothing stopping us from getting our Fourteenth again." The Earl announced happily while clapping in joy.

First the first time since the entire ordeal started, Allen decided to voice a question.

"Fourteenth?"

The Earl narrowed his eyes at the white haired boy in consideration. "Do you know who the Noah are?" He asked, his tone playfully light.

After some brief consideration, Allen hesitantly nodded. "Road... Road said that they were human, but better. Ad-advanced humans, she said." The white haired boy furrowed his eyebrows. There was a mass of knowledge about the Noah in his head, but it was so wrong compared to what he thought he knew. He couldn't trust himself to listen to it, at least not yet. "And they work with you."

The Earl hummed in acknowledgement. "We're family."

The ex-exorcist blinked. Somehow he had never considered the Earl as anything close to human. In the Order he was always the object of hate and advisory, and him having a family of all things – people to care for – was at odds with the preconceived image he was taught.

"We are the true apostles of God. We were the master race, long before humans roamed the Earth. When they arrived, we ruled over humans, teaching them and guiding them." The Earl sighed sadly, perching on the edge of the bed before continuing. "But then humans were too susceptible to corruption. And while they take many partners and reproduce quickly, we don't choose our Mates so easily. Soon they outgrew us in number, and used a gift from God to create weapons against us."

Allen swallowed nervously, feeling somewhat guilty at the sadness evident in the other's tone.

"However our ancestors cleansed the Earth, destroying themselves in the process. Thirteen Noah decided to inherit the anger of our fallen race, and repopulated the Earth before dying as well. Within each human then, are dormant Noah genes that allow one of the thirteen to reincarnate into them again."

The white haired boy took time absorbing the information, staring at the Earl in wonder. It hardly seemed believable, but the thing in his head (which Allen guessed was the Noah, and wasn't _that_ frightening) was agreeing with everything the Earl had head. He wanted to ask about the akuma, and the killing and everything, but it became obvious that they were simply purifying the human race once more. Allen wasn't sure how much of that thought was his own, or the Noah's. He had a feeling that there would barely be a different between the two at some point.

Bouncing up cheerfully, the Earl shed his melancholic demeanour and grinned in excitement at the white haired boy. "Now that that's over and done with, it's time for you to awaken, little Noah."

Allen cringed slightly. He had one worrying thought, ever since he found himself believing things that went against what he knew or treating his enemies (it was the _Earl_ besides him, for goodness' sake) like old friends. "It- it won't erase who I am... will it?"

Tyki, who had been silent all this time, wrapped his arms firmly around the smaller boy. "Of course not, little one. It's inheriting the knowledge and powers more than personality." He smiled, before adding on. "And I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you."

Seeing Allen relax in the Third apostle's arms at his words, the Earl's grin grew wider.

"Perfect! Now Allen pet, all you need is some more dark matter to set you off. We can inject you with some in no time."

At the word 'injection', the fledgling Noah cringed, retreating further into Tyki's arms. Seeing this, Tyki frowned before looking at the Earl pleadingly. He didn't want his little one to be scared.

"It doesn't have to be an injection," the Earl amended his previous sentence, speaking as a parent would do to a frightened child. "I have the perfect idea actually." He grinned mischievously, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Tyki pet can feed it to you!"

The aforementioned man gaped at his father figure. Relieved to be away from any possibility of injections, Allen nudged the older man, looking at him expectantly. Unable to deny that expectant gaze, Tyki sighed before relenting. He held out his hand, gathering dark matter upon the tips of his fingers.

The deep purple substance, almost dark enough to look black, somehow radiated power to Allen. It was entrancing; the Noah voice in his head demanding to take it, and Allen readily complied. Leaning forwards, he opened his mouth and closed it around Tyki's fingers, allowing the dark matter to enter his body. As if setting off a chain reaction, the desire for more reared its head. It wasn't enough; he wanted, he _needed_ more of it.

Watching the white haired boy practically licking the stuff off him had Tyki holding back a blush. He was not Sheryl, he was not a pervert! He was simply helping a family member, that was all. Yet when Allen growled lowly, butting his head against the older Noah in a demand for more, Tyki almost lost it. He quickly gathered more dark matter, only for that to be consumed as well. On the sidelines, the Earl watched on in amusement, deciding not to tell Tyki that he had prepared a spoon to use. This was far more entertaining.

Again and again, Tyki gathered dark matter, only for it to be consumed by the boy before him. Allen's skin was progressively getting darker, indicating how close he was becoming to fully transforming. Allen was getting more insistent, going closer to the older man until he was practically straddling him. Finally his skin was dark enough to be at the same level as any other Noah, and the white haired boy leaned forwards one more time. He grasped Tyki's arm, biting into it harshly and drawling blood. Tyki winced, but watched in fascination as the other lapped up the red liquid. Allen was getting slower and sloppier, so that when he just finished, he slumped forwards in fatigue, finally falling unconscious. Tyki blinked in confusion as the sleeping Noah in his lap, before looking at the Earl.

"What was that?"

As if he could no longer hold in his amusement, the Earl started chuckling loudly, almost doubling over as he started laughing heartily.

"Ah dear Tyki pet. It seems our little Allen was eager to claim you."

"W-wait _what_?"

The Earl waved his hand dismissively. "Never mind about that."

Tyki spluttered indignantly, but before he could protest, a large chequered door rose from the ground. Road came bounding out of it, stopping just shy of crashing into the unconscious Allen. She was grinning in excitement, her entire demeanour of a child about to get a brand new toy.

"Millenie! It is happening yet?"

Patting her head affectionately, The Earl nodded. "Allen pet should be starting right about now."

– x –

Rubble lay scattered around, half obscured by the black sea around him. Allen stood in a daze, wondering exactly where he was. The sea was steadily rising – initially at his shins, but now at his thigh, and getting higher. In a panic, Allen looked for some safe area, some higher ground he could move to. He stopped a particularly large piece of rubble to refuge upon. Quickly – the sea was up to his waist now – he sloshed his way over to it, desperate to have something to hold on to. He was submerged to his chest by the time he was a few metres away from the rubble. Desperately trying to get closer, he reached out, only for whatever footing he had fell away. With a gasp, he fell into the sea, swallowing some of it as he did so. He struggled frantically to no avail. There was a weight upon him, dragging him downwards until he could no longer see the world above him.

Silently, Allen struggled to hold his breath, but even then he could not hold out forever. He inhaled, and the sea rushed inwards, invading and violating. His mouth opened in a silent scream, allowing more of the darkness to enter. More and more continued to enter, scouring his body – every limb, every cell, changing him intrinsically – leaving a burning in its wake. After what felt like a century of invasion, he finally was able to breathe. The darkness did not cease to invade, but it no longer hurt. He felt worn out and beaten, and he allowed his body to relax.

Yet somehow he knew it wasn't over. It may have been an instinctual knowing, or the increasing throbbing in his skull. He clutched at his hair, holding so tightly it hurt as the pain and pressure in his mind grew with each passing second. Then, as if a dam had broken, the pain peaked, and a multitude of images flashed before him. Information, memories, images were forcefully shoved into his mind. A burning pain erupted from his forehead, causing his to scream out once more. He thrashed, more and more as invisible restraints held him in place. When the pain on his forehead subsided slightly, another burst forth to start the cycle anew, bringing with it more memories to cram into his overwhelmed brain. Again and again the cycle restarted, until after the sixth, the pain became worse, if it was even possible. Allen curled up into a ball, sobbing as the last and most painful wave of agony passed.

When it was finally, _finally _over, and the new memories were buzzing in his mind, Allen could feel strong, comforting limbs wrap around him.

"You did well, little one. Now rest."

In the fuzziness of his fading consciousness, the new Noah could barely register the warmth within those words before darkness overtook him.

– x –

Golden eyes shot open. Their owner blinked several times, trying to organise the multitude of information flashing across his mind. What was his name again? Neah? No, that was the last one, he was... Allen. That was it. Immediately some of his confusion settled, and Allen's memories were brought forth and confirmed as he own. Yes, he was Allen Walker. Previously known as Red, then as the Destroyer of Time; exorcist, then ex-exorcist. The new Fourteenth Noah.

Sitting up on the bed he lay upon, Allen looked at his surroundings. The room was the same as yesterday, although the sheets were in far more disarray. With a start, he noticed red bloodstains all down his shirt. They were dark and dried, but not very old. He didn't remember getting injured, at least, not that badly. A flash of worry shot through him at the thought that someone else had been bleeding upon him, particularly the thought of that someone being Joyd.

Allen frowned, before he winced as pain shot through his forehead at the movement. He gingerly touched it, feeling the tender flesh of new cuts – seven in total – that lay arranged in a neat line. Allen probed each and every one in some sort of childish curiosity. Each cut was shaped like a small cross, and though they were fairly equal, the one in the middle was larger than the rest by a small margin. _'Stigmata'_, the Noah in his head (which Allen could now recognise) helpfully supplied. The white haired boy thanked it out of habit, surprised at the generally pleased feeling he got in return.

Reaching up to push back some hair that had fallen onto his forehead (which was started to ache a little after all the probing), the young Noah froze at the sight of his hand. What had once been pale porcelain had become a deep grey. It was so unusual and foreign, seeing the unfamiliar (yet familiar) hand move and respond to his commands. He flexed his fingers once more, before going back to pushing his hair back. It was fairly long, but still short enough that part of it refused to tuck behind his ear, which annoyed the boy to no end. Simply resigning his hair to remain a spiky mess, Allen gave up. He instead pushed himself off the bed, deciding to see what other changes his appearance had undergone.

After an unnecessarily long (due to the fact he was fairly unsteady on his feet) walk, Allen make his way to the dresser, gazing into the mirror upon it. Golden eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. His hair! His beautiful white hair had been streaked with silver and grey. The strands curled up, making his hair _wavy_, instead of sleek and straight as he was used to. As conspicuous his pure white hair had been, he vastly preferred it, especially to the rust red it had been before, that both reminded him slightly of Cross, and his old title. Further yet, his silver eyes were now a deep, burnt gold, practically amber in colour. They looked almost inhuman, how they glowed – although similar feelings of shock had run through him when his appearance had changed the first time around (even if he was far too devastated to properly notice until a few weeks after the incident).

The most significant change was the entire lack of a jagged, red scar running down his face. It changed his entire appearance, to the point that without it, he could barely recognise himself. Even without the physical evidence, Allen could tell that his curse was gone. He couldn't feel it anymore, that nagging reminder to constantly look for akuma. In some respect he was glad for the presence in his head, if only so that his mind didn't feel too silent. Yet Mana's last gift was more than pointless noise within his mind. It was a token of his father, his promise an as exorcist, his wish to save akuma.

And it was gone.

Tears welled up in his eyes (those unfamiliar, golden irises), building up before spilling over and streaming down his face. When he had lost Mana, his scar was the one, irrevocable reminder of the man, who had so few possessions that Allen had nothing else to remember him by. It felt like losing him all over again. Lost in his grief, Allen almost didn't notice the pair of strong, comforting arms that encircled him.

"What's wrong, little one?"

The low baritone of the Third apostle's voice was soothing to his inner Noah, and Allen was soon soothed alongside it. He relaxed into the hold, before pulling away to turn around. Gazing up at the man that had been his comfort for his transformation, the Fourteenth apostle frowned.

"I don't know you." Blunt and straight to the point. Tyki winced at the declaration.

"But I do know you at the same time." Allen sighed. "It's so strange."

Chucking, Tyki reached up and ruffled the shorter Noah's hair. He could recall a similar confusion after awakening, although he figured that it was be far more disconcerting for an exorcist (_ex_-exorcist, his Noah growled), who had until that point seen them as enemies.

"It gets better with time." He reassured the white – or rather silver – haired boy. "The Earl sent me to check on you, by the way. Since you're already awake, we can go see him and get all the answers you want." They also needed confirmation about where their newest member stood. Noah or not, the boy had been an exorcist, and with the track record of the Fourteenth, they could hardly take any chances.

Allen's brow furrowed in worry, but he nodded regardless. Now that he was thinking clearly, he needed to figure out what he was going to do.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I always feel like this is too happy and fluffy and shit, but then I've got two horribly angsty DGM fics waiting for this to finish :I Thank you to everyone who left such nice comments eh

Pacifistic Brat - oho, happy (really late) birthday then

Yuuki21 - aw thanks man, I'm glad it seems all original and shit. "Tsk" is a little like clicking your tongue I guess. It's just a sound you make. And that second phrase might be worded slightly oddly but it just means he had feels when he thought he was a emotionless shit

* * *

Tyki was waiting for him when he got out of the shower – fresh, clean and blood free. The older man secretly admired the younger boy – his inner Noah glad to see the other outside of the exorcist garb. Allen looked himself over, pleased. There had been an outfit waiting for him, oddly enough like his old one, with a ribbon, waistcoats and plain slacks. It has fit him surprisingly well, and from the silver-haired boy's memory, there weren't any other Noah that were similar to him in stature. Shaking his head, he decided to let it slide. He'd rather not know how they found out his exact measurements. The only changes to his outfit would be the distinct lack of gloves (and Allen revelled in the feeling of not having to hide a part of himself) and the ribbon being a beautiful forest green rather than red. Again he looked at himself and saw something both familiar and new at the same time, but Allen decided he quite liked the change. Green was a nice colour after all – one that didn't remind him of his old name or sad past.

"Are you ready, little one?" Tyki's voice cut through his thoughts, and Allen nodded. As uncertain as he was about the other Noah – and The Earl himself – Allen's inner Noah trusted them and that was enough to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Smiling, the Third Apostle set off, guiding Allen down several extravagant hallways. If Allen wasn't blindsided by all the twists and turns – and he _knew_ he'd be getting lost more than once, he'd have to stick with Joyd for the time being – even he might have been impressed, and he'd visited his fair share of the aristocracy with Cross. After what seemed like quite a while, they finally made it to a large set of wooden double doors. Without any preamble, Tyki strode forward and thrust them open.

The young Noah found himself hiding behind the Third Apostle as every pair of eyes in the room settled upon him. Tyki chuckled in amusement, as Allen burrowed himself closer to the older man. His inner Noah was pleased that their newest addition had chosen him for protection. Smiling lightly in satisfaction, Tyki grasped the little Noah by the hand and made his way over to the dining table, sitting down and placing the younger boy besides him. There were some aspect of being territorial about the silver-haired boy, one that Tyki wouldn't be able to begin to understand, but it soothed both him and his inner Noah to have Allen close-by.

Allen fidgeted within his seat – much to the amusement of several Noah – unused to being scrutinised in such a way. Well he actually was, if you counted the way people used to look him over as a freak, trying to determine the best way to get rid of him. Allen inwardly grimaced. He was with family now; there was no room for such dark thoughts.

As soon as the idea popped in his head, Allen was startled by himself. Family? How could he so readily assign such an important title to a group of what were, essentially, strangers? Family had been important to him; Mana had been family – the first he'd ever had – and Allen had treasured their time together more than anything. Even the Black Order had not been family, far from it really. The young Noah had no idea how people could consider those dark and dismal hallways home. The Noah mansion was far better in comparison. Allen almost started once again. How had the Noah mansion become home? Yet as soon as he thought about it, Allen realised he did think of the mansion – and the ark it was within – as home. It was comforting, and the silver-haired boy hadn't realised he was far more relaxed there than he had ever been before. Allen couldn't place the feeling, but it was engrained within him, the knowledge that these people _were_ family, and they'd never hurt him in the slightest. More and more did the thought of hurting them make him feel sick.

The Earl cleared his throat, attracting all the attention to him. His grin widening, the Earl clapped his hands in excitement. "Now I'm sure all of us are happy to see our newest addition to the family, but let us not make him uncomfortable, hmm?"

Allen blinked. He hadn't even realised everyone had still been staring at him, but he was glad now that the scrutiny had passed.

As if on some silent cue, a stream of akuma maids entered the room, laden with various dishes. For a moment Allen was glad his curse was gone, and he didn't have to suffer through the pain (and humiliation of showing such a gruesome curse to his maybe-Family) before he immediately squashed the thought, ashamed with himself. The curse wasn't anything pleasant – in fact it had induced a series of nightmares when he first had gotten it, caused him to cry blood and fuelled his recklessness in saving the akuma. Each time he saw one of the warped, horrific souls he was reminded of Mana and what could have happened to the clown if he hadn't been saved by Allen's innocence. Yet this was why his curse was so important – it had made him _him, _and without it he'd forget all the pain of losing Mana and forget his reason for being an exorcist (but he couldn't be one anymore, could he?) and he'd stop walking.

God, he wanted to cry.

Resolutely, Allen ignored the tears welling up in his eyes and the worried look that Joyd had given him. Instead he focused upon the food in front of him which by all means he should be scarfing down as usual because it looked delicious – and promptly remembered that without his innocence he would have an average appetite. He choked back a sob–

While the Earl's hat promptly burst into flames.

Allen blinked, his sadness momentarily forgotten. Shrill laughter burst from a pair he instinctively named Bondomu, and the two Noah made a scene of holding back tears as they wheezed. Road was grinning in amusement, but had held back the laughter, and besides him, Tyki was silently shaking in amusement. General disorder was prevalent for a couple of moments before the Earl narrowed his eyes and his smile sharpened, and everyone once again fell quiet.

"How mean, Allen pet." The Earl seemed to complain, although his playful tone was mismatched with his words. "You set my hat on fire."

Once again, Allen was at the centre of attention.

"Wait, what?" The silver haired Noah spluttered in confusion. "That's not even _possible._"

A low chuckle came from besides him, and suddenly Tyki had an arm around his shoulder, his face close as he explained. "It is entirely possible. Noah after all, do have very special powers. Road can create and manipulate dreams, and Sheryl," and Allen was greeted by a very enthusiastic Noah waving at him, "can control bodies." The third Apostle waved in the general direction of the other Noah. "The twins there can create things with their minds, Skin can control electricity and Lulu Bell can shape shift." The fledgling Noah nodded once at each, feeling somewhat displaced at the sudden introduction.

"What can you do?" Allen asked, now curious about the other Noah.

Tyki gave a sly grin. "I can choose whatever I want to touch... and not touch."

Allen raised eyebrow at the Third Apostle, before a movement caught his eye and he glanced down to see Tyki's arm protruding from him chest. With a yelp, Allen shot up, and a loud crack was heard as Tyki's chair went flying in pieces and the older Noah was suddenly sprawled upon the floor. The silver haired boy blinked, trying to get a reign on his embarrassment and thoughts over Road's roaring laughter.

Thankfully, before things seemed to get more out of hand, the Earl started chuckling, and waved for an akuma maid to clear up the mess. "Now, now Tyki pet. You shouldn't scare Allen like that, he is only a newborn after all."

"I don't remember blowing things up when I was new." Tyki grumbled in his new chair – having been brought a new one by an akuma, but he sent a reassuring smile to the newest Noah to show that he wasn't entirely mad.

The Earl seemed to 'tut' in either disapproval, or amusement. It was likely to have been both. "You were never a _newborn_ Tyki pet; you were newly reincarnated. Allen is practically brand new, a baby in our terms."

Allen blinked, unsure whether to be affronted or not. He supposed that being only the second reincarnation of his Noah would make him relatively new, even though it must have been born over half a century ago at the very least.

"Hii! Baby! Baby!" Jesdero mocked. His twin cackled. "Coochie coo!"

The youngest Noah sent them a glare, only for them to cackle louder.

"So what?" Tyki smirked. "Is he throwing a tantrum?"

It was Tyki's turn to be on the receiving end of a glare. He soon lost his smirk.

Chuckling, the Earl shook his head. "Newborns can't control their powers very well. They react easily to emotions, so I'm sure Allen pet isn't throwing a tantrum on purpose."

The youngest Noah in question grimaced (read: pouted) – he wasn't throwing a _tantrum_. Allen jumped again when he felt an arm around him once more. Tyki hugged their youngest member close, rubbing soothing circles on the small of his back in an attempt to get him to relax.

"Hey, don't worry little one," the Third Apostle murmured. "It's not a problem. We'll help you adjust, okay?"

The white haired Noah found himself relaxing into the older Apostle's touch, leaning lack to lay his head against the taller man. He violently shoved his doubts away, allowing himself some measure of comfort in Joyd's presence. Through all the various emotions he'd been feeling since waking up, the feeling of safety he got around the other Noah was consistent, and at that moment, it allowed for the boy to get a hold on his newly awoken powers. Allen nodded in response to Tyki's question, closing his eyes as he did so. He missed the relieved expressions upon few of the other Noah's faces, and Road's triumphant smirk to the Earl. Regardless of what doubts Allen may have, it was obvious that the Fourteenth Noah was bonded to the Third, and it wouldn't be long before their hosts followed suit.

"Now then," the Earl interrupted, his joy reflected in his beaming face. "Let's finish our dinner."

Allen happily ate the rest of his food, for once enjoying it thoroughly, rather than eating to fill the never-ending gnawing pain of hunger that had been invoked by his parasitic innocence. While part of him enjoyed seeing others blanch at his appetite, a small part of him hadn't liked another reason for people to see him as more of a freak than he already was. When all was said and done, he was sent to bed – Tyki once again leading the way.

The young Noah found himself collapsing upon his bed as soon as he arrived back in his room, suddenly exhausted. The entire transformation had taken a lot out of him, and the emotional stress of his new situation had simply pushed him further into fatigue. Vaguely he could hear Tyki nagging him about changing his clothes, and he grumbled in reply. A moment or two later, he was startled out of his doze when the Third Apostle lifted him off his warm and snugly bed, and Allen found himself pouting once more. Grumbling, he changed into his nightwear (once again not bothering to understand where the clothes had come from), before crawling back into the bed and sighing in relief. Soon, the Fourteenth fell asleep under the watchful gaze of the Third Apostle.

Over the next few days, Allen had found controlling his budding powers to be far more difficult than he imagined. Even when calm, it was difficult keeping a grasp on the whirl of energy he could feel under his skin, and so at every surprise or influx of emotion, something around him broke. It was even worse, in a sense, around Joyd. His Noah instincts were already running rampage – he spent the last night overcome with the oddest urge to spill blood, much to his horror. Yet around the Third Apostle it all went haywire. Allen was sure that his inner Noah was the blame (as he was for pretty much everything), but the ex-exorcist couldn't dredge up the courage to actually ask anyone about it – least of all the Earl. It was too soon, for him to be able disregard whatever qualms he retained from his time as a human – even discontinuing to call himself human had been a hard pill to swallow, no matter how _right_ it felt.

A crack sounded out again and the white haired boy winced, hoping that nobody would mind the newly cracked window – it wasn't _his_ fault that a spider had snuck up on him, no. They were evil, evil creatures that delighted in human misery. Ever since one had bitten him as a child and gotten him sick, Allen couldn't stand the things. The ex street rat could handle any manner of things – rabid animals, maggots, rotten food – anything but those horrendous eight-legged creatures. Allen shuddered, and the window seemed to groan a little, as if to crack further.

Startled, the white haired Noah looked around conspicuously, and seeing the coast clear, made to move on. A low chuckle cut through the air, startling Allen further, and the window shattered with a bang.

"Godammit!"

The chuckles grew into full-blown laughter, and Tyki emerged – quite literally – from a nearby door, laughing quite audibly, mirth dancing in his eyes.

"Oh my, little one. You weren't planning on destroying the poor window and running away, were you?" The Third Apostle smirked, watching as their youngest spluttered indignantly.

"Of course I was!" Allen seemed affronted, as if anything less was ridiculous.

"It's not like everyone else wouldn't know who did it." The older Noah stated, still sounding amused.

"It's the principle of the thing."

Tyki _hmmed_ contemplatively. "And what are you doing here anyway? We were all waiting for you."

"I was going to dinner." Allen huffed. The one time they leave him alone for a while, and he can't find the blasted dining room.

"You're lost, aren't you?"

The older Noah smirked, reaching out to grasp the white haired teen's hand, and direct them both in the proper direction.

"Come on, the rest are waiting."

Allen ducked his head, his Noah instincts going wild at the physical contact. Distinctly, he could hear the high pitched _crack _of another window breaking.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: ahahaha I fucked up.

Hidden leaf assassin - Thanks~ I somehow get disappointed when the whole Noah change is underplayed, or really quick. It just seems maybe more logical to make it a bigger deal since its your entire physiology and psychology getting changed

Yuuki21 - I like their pairing most tbh. Ah, they weren't, although it wasn't for lack of trying. Neah completely seperated himself from his Noah so he never really followed its instincts. Awh, sorry eh. There'll be more seriousness later on. Not sure whether to make it smut or not though :I Nuhuh, I like this too much to abandon it. It's fine, I'm semi fluent is a few other languages, so I get the whole difference thing. Nah you understood correctly, no worries '^'b

Thank you to everyone else who reviewed /o/ I'm glad this seems so cute lmao

* * *

Allen bolted upright, his eyes wide and gleaming a deep golden. His fingers periodically twitched, as if it could still feel the muscles of that _pathetic little human, ripping them apart–_

The Fourteenth Noah drew in a deep, ragged breath, trying to desperately counter the images in his mind, and the want, the _need_ for blood to run down his fingers, dripping off the tips to form a ever growing puddle of deep crimson and– and '_no!_' Allen's mind screamed at itself. '_I don't want to kill people!'_

Yet he did. Man, woman or child, it wouldn't have mattered as long as his could rip them limb from limb. Allen could feel it in his mind, the Noah, thrashing against his self-imposed bonds, desperately trying to reign free and kill, kill, _kill. _The Fourteenth could feel his skin grow darker and his stigmata itch as he instinctively started gathering dark matter, gearing up, preparing for a rampage. Allen desperately wanted to stop, because it was wrong, it was so _wrong_ to want to do such things to people. It violated everything he learnt as a human, as an exorcist, but the Noah instincts were there, running rampage with the desire to see blood spilt.

The white haired boy screamed in pure frustration; two sides of him – Noah and human – were waging war in his mind, and a headache grew – becoming larger and larger, as if trying to rival the change that had brought about his Noah genes in the first place. Over the sounds of his scream he could hear his door slam open, and the heavy beats of running footsteps. Worried golden eyes came into sight, as the Third Apostle leaned over him. '_It's always you, Joyd', _Allen thought, somewhere in the back of his mind.

"What's going on?" The Noah of pleasure glanced to the side, and Allen followed his sight to see the anxious form of the Earl.

'_Huh. Déjà vu.' _

Road was there too, and her presence combined with Tyki's allowed him to relax. After the Noah of Pleasure, she was the one he was closest to. It might have been because she was the first he'd encountered (despite the details of said encounter), it might have been because she was the eldest asides from the Earl, or the only one (again, asides from the Earl) that his Noah recognised from his other incarnation, but the Ninth Apostle was a comforting figure in his new life, against all odds.

Understandably, he was further distracted by the look of worry and pure fear on her face.

"Road, what's wrong?" The question came out hoarse, much to Allen's surprise. He hadn't even realised he'd been screaming for that long.

"It's the bloodlust." She replied, to both their questions – her voice lacking its usual cheer.

Allen could feel a shudder run through him at the word and all its implications, starting his mental battle anew. He tightened his grip on Tyki, who frowned even deeper at the response.

"Isn't it too early?" The Third Apostle remembered his own bloodlust – it was ingrained in Noah instincts, and each Apostle felt the desire to spill blood. But if he remembered correctly, it was a gradual thing, coming in slowly and staying for the first year of their newest incarnation, until the Noah memory was more secure in its newest host. It would be a lie to say it ever went away – Tyki would happily kill some humans (or better yet, exorcists) at any time, but it was far more controllable than it had first been, and the Noah of Pleasure could never remember it being bad enough to put him in the same state as Allen currently was in.

"Neah had the same problem."

Tyki winced, and suddenly Road's despairing look seemed more appropriate. The previous Fourteenth was still a sore spot for both her and the Earl. Road went over to their youngest, crawling over his bed to settle next to him, and bring his head into her lap. She started stroking it with an almost motherly affection, before explaining, still in that slightly strained way.

"Bloodlust is natural for us Noah, but it generally goes against human mentality. Even the worst of worst of them can't kill so indiscriminately."

Tyki nodded, feeling the Earl coming up close behind him as he did this. He already knew so.

"It's more than that, Tyki dear." The Earl sighed. "It's almost like a consummation of the Noah memories with their new host – it means the Noah instincts have completely overridden the old human ones."

A dawning realisation was starting to come over the Third Apostle. "And if it's coming in this early, there'll be too much conflict of instinct." He finished up.

"The Fourteenth is the Noah of Destruction," The Earl summarised. "Like the Noah of Rage, their bloodlust is much stronger. Sadly enough, it came in too early last time too, and Neah's psyche practically split."

"And he went mad." Tyki elaborated dully. Worry gripped him, and Tyki could likewise feel his inner Noah rear its head in some semblance of the emotion. It was largely made up of instinct, and several complex emotions were lost to it, but the fierce protective instinct he felt for their youngest was clear.

The Noah of Pleasure bit his lip in an uncharacteristic gesture of worry. "Won't it be okay if he just kills people? We could help with that, surely."

The Earl gave off the impression of frowning without actually changing his ever-grinning expression. "In theory, yes. But Allen dear has to do it of his own free will, accept the mentality as his own. If we try to force it upon him, it might just make it worse."

A soft sounding sigh came from the Noah in question, and Tyki looked down to see that Road has brought him back to sleep. She was still stroking his hair, but oddly enough his inner Noah didn't mind the contact so much – not as it seemed to when other people touched the white haired boy.

"I've got him under for now, but I won't be able to stop the bloodlust dreams."

Tyki flinched, but the Earl seemed to perk up in interest.

"Can you at least influence them?"

Road nodded, understanding dawning in her eyes. Tyki looked between the two for a moment, almost appalled at what they were suggesting.

"We can't just _brainwash_ him. He's family!"

"We're not!" Road defended. "I want to help him because he's family."

The hurt was evident in the eldest Noah's tone, and Tyki's eyes softened a little. He knew she was still haunted for being unable to help Neah. It still didn't hinder the unease within him, however. Part of the Noah of Pleasure wanted Allen to come to their side of his own free will – unlikely as it was, given his old occupation – or at least, without outwards interference. Another part of him felt wrong deceiving the white haired boy into bringing him over. The Third Apostle coughed, giving both Road and the Earl a pleading look.

"Can we at least wait a little while, just to give him a chance by himself?"

Road frowned, but looked towards the Earl for answers. The Earl seemed to contemplate it for a moment, before nodding.

"If it seems like this proves too much for him, we will help him along."

There was no refuting that statement, and Tyki happily nodded. The Third Apostle really had no idea what he was getting himself into.

A few days later, and Tyki was almost crawling up the walls in worry. Allen only seemed to get _worse_, looking haggard all the time, but afraid to sleep for the dreams that would haunt him. He'd seem close to lashing out, but would stop at the last moment, and seem to crumple within himself. His warring decision was taking a toll on everyone in the family.

Allen looked up blearily, shaking his head a little to clear his eyesight. Tyki was at the door, carrying food. The other Noah was the only one who kept visiting, and while Allen was grateful, he couldn't stand to see the hurt he was inflicting upon everyone else.

_Then why don't you just give in?_

The white haired boy shook his head. _Shut up._

Tyki set the food down, settling on the bed besides Allen. The worried look he so often had was on his face, and Allen felt another twinge of guilt.

"How're you holding up?"

The Fourteenth gave a weak smile. "I'm good."

The older Noah frowned at the blatant lie, but let it pass.

"Are you still undecided?" He prodded.

Allen shook his head, a bitter smile on his face. "I don't want to become a monster."

Tyki flinched, and the younger boy immediately had a sorry expression on his face.

"I didn't mean–"

The Third apostle shook his head, and shushed Allen with a finger. "I understand. I had the same reservations in the beginning."

Allen looked up at him, curious. "What changed?"

Tyki smiled sadly, hating to say what he was about to, but his feelings worn out from days of seeing Allen tear himself apart.

"I wanted to protect my new family." Tyki sighed, before continuing. "Would you refrain from killing, even if one of us were in danger? Even if I was in danger?"

Hating himself a little for the wide eyed look on the younger boy, Tyki ruffled his hair and left the room. Guilt gnawed at him, as he left behind the youngest Noah, who most likely even more conflicted. He was jolted out of his thoughts by Road, who he'd literally run into. The shorter Noah had an odd expression on her face, but Tyki didn't have much time to think upon his before short arms were enveloping him in a hug.

"Silly Tyki, I should have been the one to do that."

The Third Apostle shook himself, before smiling, as if trying to shake off his guilt as well. If Allen came to a decision because of him, he'd be happy living with that for the rest of his life.

'_Maybe I should be flattered'_ Tyki mused, '_if he goes against the human in him for me'._

Feeling slightly better, the Noah of pleasure looked back at the girl in front of him. "So did you come here just to hug me?"

Road perked up, before shaking her head. "Millienie wants to see you. I think we're going onto the next act!" The short haired Noah smiled in excitement. Tyki shook his head in amusement, glad at least someone was happy.

Tyki knocked on the door to the Earl's personal rooms, waiting for the jolly 'enter' before going inside and greeting the Noah patriarch with a bow.

"Evening, Duke Millennium."

"Hello Tyki dear," The Earl simpered, waddling over to the Noah and handing him a card. "The next act is starting. I need you to get rid each person on your card."

The Noah of Pleasure looked down at the names, raising an eyebrow as he did so. "Are these all exorcists?"

The Earl nodded. "There were one or two pesky humans involved too, but Lulubell has gone to take care of them." He nodded dismissively. "Be careful Tyki dear!"

Tyki nodded, before pausing. "What about Allen?"

"I'm sure you did a good job of helping him along." The Earl smiled, and Tyki internally sighed. He'd never figure out how both The Earl and Road always knew what you were up to.

"And if not," The Earl's smile seemed to darken. "I'll just have to help him as well."

Tyki repressed a shiver, but his inner Noah remained docile, so the Third apostle wasn't worried. The Earl was just worried; planning to help in that odd, sick way of his – but there were no malicious feelings towards their youngest. Unsurprisingly, The Earl was very possessive of his children, and he wouldn't allow anything – besides himself of course – to ever hurt them.

Bowing once more, Tyki left with a wave, heading towards the closest ark gate to start his mission. Allen would be fine in the hands of his other family members, and being cooped up for so long, his inner Noah was ready to tear some exorcists apart. The Noah of Pleasure grinned darkly, disappearing with a flash through one of the many gates to the human world.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I'm not sorry.

On a side note, my exams are like next week lmao, and I should have been studying but I'll start now so uh, delayed updates again /o/ whee. Also I have no idea where the line breaks went but I'll add different ones in

Not-Gonna-Update - Jaaa, I love the whole at mercy of their instincts thing

Yuuki21 - I can't do pure fluff for the life of me. Hmm, kay. No stress eh, everyone gets better with practise '^'b Tbh is to be honest and lmao just means you're laughing. It's colloquial for person, I'm not calling you male. And nope, they aren't complete, otherwise I'd have published it all already. But I do have two other Noah fics that I've kind started writing, and one that I've plotted. The first two aren't all happy like this is eh

Ayronya - ehh thank you ❤（っ＾▿＾）

ty everyone else too /o/

* * *

Allen found himself shocked to silence after Tyki left. It hadn't even occurred to the white haired teen, what he would do if his... family were under attack. The little Noah shuddered at the thought. Really, the only people that _could_ hurt his family would be exorcists, and Allen was even more conflicted over that.

What with his Noah transformation underway, the ex-exorcist barely spared a thought to his old comrades. It wasn't as if they left on bad terms - although when Allen thought about it, to them it must have seemed like he was kidnapped. It had been a good fortnight at the very least, since he'd left the order. It was surprising, once the fog and rampage of instinct that had overcome him when the transformation was due had left, that Allen didn't start considering leaving. But then, the young Noah knew what had kept him complacent, and grounded even, his entire stay at the Noah mansion.

'_Joyd,'_ Allen thought, before grimacing. He was back at the heart of the problem.

Could he leave the older Noah? They had barely been acquainted if he thought about it properly, but it was evident that their inner Noah had some sort of significant connection. Allen shook his head as a no. He liked the Third Apostle, not only for the instinctual frenzy the other Noah would set in him, but as Tyki as well as Joyd. The older man had been far more accommodating to him than anyone had been since his breakdown after Mana had died. No, abandoning or fighting against Tyki, and the other Noah to a lesser extent, was something Allen couldn't bring himself to do. It would surely rip him apart, and his matyr complex wasn't so far gone that he'd kill himself for the Order when he'd only joined their side for Mana's memory. For some reason the thought was worse than his newfound desire to become a mass murderer.

Thinking of the old clown, Allen wondered if he'd be bothered with the white haired teen's new position as a Noah. The answer came surprisingly easily – probably not. It had come as a shock to the Fourteenth, to be able to access partially the memories of his predecessor. Neah Walker was most likely the most important person in Mana's life, and the old clown hadn't cared in the slightest what he was. Maybe Mana would have changed his opinion if he realised it was his position as a Noah that had gotten Neah killed, but Allen would have liked to think that Mana would have been okay with anything as long as he was happy.

Surprisingly enough, the Noah made Allen happy. They weren't judgemental, not even for his past occupation as an exorcist. They didn't expect much of him, not for him to support them both while he was barely into adolescence (as Cross had) or support the fate of mankind upon his shoulders (as the Order had). In fact they were already treating him like family. He'd made it through the transformation process in one piece thanks to The Earl's help, of all people, despite the fact that until then, they had essentially been enemies. The human sentiment left within Allen couldn't conceive it. While the connection between the two was quite obviously a Noah instinct – one he felt himself even – Allen couldn't quite understand, or trust even, to complete acceptance he was getting from the other Noah. He'd never been given such a thing from other humans.

_That's because humans are the problem,_ his inner Noah supplied. _They should be killed off, ripped to shreds and destroyed like the pathetic imitations that they are. _

Allen sighed, feeling conflicted once more. Maybe humans were the problem, for it was the remains of his human identity that made the prospect of genocide so horrendous to him, he couldn't quite go through with it. Even with his hesitant acceptance of the Noah family.

Head throbbing once more, Allen curled up into a ball, and closed his eyes, feeling as if something in his would soon snap.

– x –

Whistling to himself, Tyki idly wiped the blood off his fingers on his handkerchief, before letting it fall upon the slowly cooling body of an unfortunate finder. The guy had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sadly enough, he'd have to buy a new one, but it was much preferable to losing a pair of gloves each time he decided to get messy. The Noah stepped over his mess, ready to find the next person on his list. He'd been lucky so far, coming across Suman Dark and his group almost immediately in India. The poor fool had only made his job easier, giving away the locations of each Order member currently in the field – which Tyki happily relayed back to a very pleased Earl. He'd be able to collect Dark's Innocence within the week – after the exorcist had fallen and gone on a rampage of course. There was no need to spare the humans even more calamity.

Tyki made it to the end of the alleyway before he was interrupted.

"Kanda, the Golem's signal leads us here!"

"Idiot, what would Toma be doing in a place like this?"

"N-now, there's no need to fight..."

"Don't worry, Krory. They do it all the time."

With a jolt, the Noah of Pleasure recognised those voices – at least most of them – as the exorcists he'd encountered when looking for the wayward Fourteenth. Soon enough, they had rounded the corner, and Tyki had visual conformation as well. Although there was someone he was entirely unfamiliar with, and a young Asian girl that only felt vaguely familiar, the third Apostle definitely recognised the red-headed and sword-wielding exorcists he'd fought against. Tyki hissed, feeling the familiar hate for Innocence well up once the group came closer, the nasty substance coming off each and every one of them. The sound seemed to startle the group to a halt. The sword wielder wrinkled his nose at the heavy smell of blood in the air before both he and the red haired exorcist seemed to take notice of Tyki.

"You!" Kanda – by the sound of his voice – exclaimed, one hand already upon his sword to draw it.

"You're the one who took Allen!" The one with an eye patch added, taking out his... hammer? Tyki hadn't been paying much attention to him during their last encounter, understandably preoccupied with Allen's arrival, but the Noah of Pleasure honestly wondered how they could take themselves seriously with such ridiculous weapons. A hammer, of all things.

"It was him, Lavi?" The girl asked, getting geared up herself when the redhead, now known as Lavi, nodded in affirmation.

Tyki prepared his tease, more than ready to fight the exorcists, but understandably on edge. It was not every day he was thrown into a four against one battle. Last time the two he'd fought had been shocked by his declaration that Allen was a Noah, allowing him for a quick escape, but it was evident these guys were more skilled than the ones he killed earlier. Kanda had managed to take him by surprise, long enough for them to retrieve Allen, if only for a moment.

It was the girl who launched forwards first, apparently infuriated that Allen had been 'kidnapped'. She struck out his her right foot, aiming for Tyki's face, and the Noah had to quickly block the attack with a tease, which crumbled not a moment later, jumping back as he did so. He made a face at her Innocence being in such close proximity to him. She continued her assault with a whirlwind that swept through the entire length of the alley, forcing Tyki to retreat underground to escape it. He was caught by surprise when he emerged once more, by the hammer of all things. It crashed down where he had been not a moment before, a spiral of flame emerging upon impact. The Noah cursed as some of the flames burned him by proximity, retreating further away from the attack. It was far too difficult to take them all on at once.

A second later, the Tyki staggered backwards, a cut in his side. He pressed a hand onto it to stem the flow of blood, glaring at the swordsman who put it there.

"How rude."

Kanda scoffed, before advancing menacingly. Lavi wasn't far behind, but it was the girl who rushed forwards in anger.

"Where did you take Allen?" She was practically shouting.

Tyki coughed, before smirking weakly. "I didn't take anyone. He left with me."

"Lies!" The girl went to advance more, but a hand on her arm restrained her. "He was acting weirdly, Lavi said. You obviously did something to him!"

"That," Tyki said, taking another step back. "Was the Noah transformation. Give us little girl, you won't have him."

Unfortunately this seemed to enrage her more, and the Noah braced himself for another attack. Time seemed to slow, and a flash of light distracted everyone present. When it faded, Allen stood in front of Tyki, his skin darker than ever, and rage swirling in his golden eyes. One smoking hand was raised to block the kick aimed at Tyki. The new Noah growled.

– x –

When Allen fell asleep, it wasn't the usual dreams he was recently subjected to that had plagued him. He didn't find himself on a rampage, eyes glowing inhumanly bright while he slaughtered innocents, no. He found himself trapped, unable to move or speak as images of the Noah under attack played out. The Fourteenth struggled, clawing at invisible bonds to stop the dream from playing out, stop the _nightmare_ from haunting him. He was already someone who couldn't stand people he cared for being hurt, which was only made worse by the protective bonds between Noah.

Allen gasped, shooting up as he did so. His heart was racing, and it took a few moments of frantic thought before he realised whatever he was had only been a dream. Glancing around, he noticed with a groan that he's managed to make a crack in the wall while asleep.

The youngest Noah tried to calm himself, hoping to avoid breaking any more of the house, and frowning when he couldn't quite achieve it. There was some urgency within him, a restlessness that didn't want to go away. Allen glanced around, trying to discern the threat, and was even more confused when he couldn't find one. His inner Noah was thrashing, vying for control. It took the white haired teen a moment to understand what had set it off.

_Joyd._

A thrill of pure terror ran through the boy, images from his most recent dream flashing through his mind. He shot up, bounding through the door and out into the corridors. Still not knowing the way out, the young Noah shattered a window, jumping outside the mansion and running, instinctually towards the white city he'd seen before. The knowledge was there, in the back of his mind, that this was the ark – _his _ark, and that it would take him to where he needed to go.

Quickly finding the door he needed, Allen rushed through, exiting the Ark in a flash of light. For a moment, the scene before him froze the young Noah. Tyki had a hand pressed to his side, evidently injured. It might have been the reside imagination from his dream, but it seemed that all four exorcists were ganging up upon the older Noah, circling him to attack. Allen rushed forwards, just as Leenalee attacked, stopping in front of Tyki and blocking her kick with his hand.

The palm of his skin was burning through contact with Innocence, but the young Noah was far too gone to care. His protective instincts were in overdrive, the constant mental battle he'd been facing suddenly resolved, and for the moment, the Noah within him almost in complete control.

Allen growled, low and warning, while watching in satisfaction as they backed off slightly. He hissed when they tried to speak to him, only relaxing when he felt the presence of Joyd come closer behind him. The older Noah pressed one hand to Allen's shoulder, the other to his waist. Tyki's voice floated towards him, low and soothing.

"Calm down little Noah, I'm alright."

That seemed to do the trick, for Allen backed down, although he didn't let his eyes stray from the exorcists in front of him. He quickly glanced backwards at Tyki to confirm his words, relaxing even further when he saw the older man smiling.

Taking another step backwards Allen prepared to jump back into the ark. Seeing him back down, the exorcists glanced at each other, before attacking once more. Allen's protective fury reared its head again and all at once, and he slammed an arm into one incoming exorcist, sending them flying and crashing through a wall. He immediately grabbed another, one closest to him, feeling some sick satisfaction as his arm disappeared into the other's chest. He withdrew, and the exorcist slumped to the ground, choking out an 'Eliade' as he went.

Allen didn't wait for them to get their bearings once more, turning around and grabbing Tyki, pulling him into the ark after him.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: (ㆆ_ㆆ) I can't believe I took so long.

I think I might have to change the genre, because this doesn't seem very romantic orz

Yuuki21 - I'm messed up, that's what ಠ_ರೃ I had to stop this chapter from getting even weirder. Nah, I don't find it boring. That's pretty cool. And yeah, pretty much. Nope, I have nothing finished :A: I really want to finish this up though, I have too much going on. Tbh I didn't think about the pairings. There probably won't be any. And thanks ●‿●

* * *

Road gasped, rushing forwards at the arrival of two of her siblings. Tyki was staggering slightly, blood soaking through his side, and leaning a little on Allen. The younger Noah's arm was dyed red, and it took the Noah of Dreams a moment to realise it wasn't his own. Whatever joy she felt at this was dulled with worry for Tyki. She reached out to help the older man, only to retract her hand in a flash as Allen hissed.

The Earl was upon them in moments, tugging Road backwards as he glanced over the two arrivals. He made no move to get any closer to the pair, but he turned towards the Third Apostle with a worried air.

"Are you okay, Tyki dear?"

The older Noah nodded, smiling sheepishly. "I will be."

"Well Allen dear can help you out, can't he?" The Earl glanced at the youngest, looking on in something akin to relief when the Noah relaxed; seemingly content now that he was sure nobody was going to take Tyki away. "All you need to do is counter the Innocence with dark matter, and the natural Noah healing process will take care of the rest."

Allen fully relaxed, turning his back on the older Noah so he could go up to Tyki. Gathering some dark matter in the palm of his hand, Allen pressed it into the wound, watching happily as it seemed to lessen Tyki's pain.

Road grabbed the Earl by the arm and dragged him backwards.

"What's wrong with Allen?" She hissed.

The Earl gently pried her hand off him, seemingly unconcerned with her brashness.

"We both know what The Fourteenth and Joyd were practically mated, yes?"

Road nodded slowly without replying. "But their hosts aren't."

"Exactly," the Earl agreed. "But their hosts no longer include Neah. Allen has already let his Noah in far more than Neah ever did, and in his mind, Tyki is already his, he just doesn't know it."

"That doesn't mean he has to be so hostile," the Ninth Apostle grumbled, but she too had seen the behaviour the pair had exhibited around each other. They were outright flirting at times; it'd be almost too sickeningly sweet for Road to watch if she wasn't so happy for her family members finally finding someone.

"On the contrary my dear. Allen's instincts are pushing him towards Tyki dear, and his inner Noah will only get more and more worried and frustrated the longer they remain officially unmated. When Tyki got hurt, Allen immediately fell back to his inner Noah. He'll be hostile to anyone when his mate is injured."

Road nodded in understanding. Noahs mated forever, not only for life. The bond transcended their various incarnations. A sound from the pair in question had her turning back towards them to find one of the oddest sights she'd seen recently.

Allen had hoisted Tyki up over his shoulder, and the older Noah was wriggling and squirming around. The Ninth Apostle couldn't help but cackle.

"Are you sure you don't want to be carried bridal style Tyki?"

The Noah of Pleasure paled. Allen looked like he was considering it, which only made Road laugh again.

"No, no!" He protested. "I'm fine like this."

"I'm sure you love being swept off your feet Tyki dear," the Earl commented. "But I think you should rest a little, yes? Innocence wounds are nasty business."

Allen needed no more prompting to start towards his room. Tyki was carried off, blushing, much to Road's delight. She'd never let him live it down.

– x –

Tyki hmphed as he was dropped unceremoniously onto a bed with an _oomph_.

"Rest."

The older Noah grumbled, hoisting himself up so he was leaning on his elbows instead.

"I said _rest._" Allen stressed, and Tyki rolled his eyes.

"I've gotten worse before, you know."

All that achieved was making Allen growl.

"Honestly," Tyki said. "You're making a big deal of this. I don't need to go to sleep right away."

The white haired Noah threw his arms in the air. "You don't _understand_. When I felt that you were hurt I was more afraid than I had ever been in my life." Allen started pacing, his agitation evident in every move. "I was so _close_ to losing control, I just– there was nothing I wouldn't have done right then."

"Even kill the exorcists?" Tyki asked quietly.

Allen paused in his pacing. He looked at Tyki, and his face crumpled. "Yes," he admitted in a small voice. "I would have killed them without a thought."

"Oh god, I might have already killed one." The young Noah buried his face in his hands. "I'm a horrible person."

Tyki made a small, disagreeing sound before he reached out and coaxed the younger boy to come closer, until they were both sitting on the bed.

"You're not a horrible person." He said firmly, looking straight into the white haired youth's eyes.

"I am." He mumbled dejectedly.

Tyki shook his head. "It's natural to want to do these things. I'd do the same if anyone hurt you, does that made me a horrible person?"

"But you're a Noah!" Allen protested. "Killing people is what you do."

Tyki raised a brow. "And you aren't?"

The younger boy flinched.

"I am, but–"

"But nothing." Tyki stated. "You're either a Noah, or you're not."

"I am." Allen reiterated, sounding miserable. "I am... but I was just so caught up in the change, and having a family– I just, I forgot about the rest."

Tyki's face softened. He could only imagine that transforming to a Noah from an exorcist was difficult. The Portuguese man had spent his time before changing on the streets, and he always knew it was survival of the fittest. He'd always put his life first, and he would have stolen something for himself even if it meant someone else would suffer. It was a lot easier to get over taking lives after that. Allen on the other hand seemed to have some sort of martyr complex. He valued _everyone's_ life in a way that could only be self-destructive, and Tyki wouldn't let that happen. He couldn't let the younger boy destroy himself to protect some nameless sub-humans.

"Hey," the older Noah murmured gently. "Don't worry, it's not that bad. You said it yourself, we're family, so we'll help you through this, okay?"

"Even if I don't want to kill people?"

Tyki hummed. "I said we'll help you through it, didn't I?"

Allen nodded, before stretching out with a little yawn. The adrenaline rush was wearing off, and he could relax once more, knowing that Tyki was with him and safe. The older Noah watched his movements carefully.

"Now, I think it's time we rest, yes? It's been a long day."

The little Noah made a small affirmative sound, before yawning once more. Any other time, he would have gone back to his own room, but between saying up all night for nightmares and rushing to save Tyki, he was exhausted. Allen was still technically a baby Noah after all, and he needed the rest.

The white haired teen allowed Tyki to drag them both to the top of the bed and draw them under the covers. He snuggled into his pillow, keeping one hand on the older Noah to assure himself that he was safe. Finally, when he was relaxed and content, the little Noah fell asleep.

Tyki watched Allen fall asleep with the thought that he would do anything for the boy. He knew that Joyd was attracted to the Fourteenth, which brought them together in the first place. Instinctually they both knew their Noahs were to be together.

And yet somehow, Tyki found himself drawn not only to the Fourteenth Noah, but to its vessel, Allen Walker himself. The boy was hopelessly naive and far too trusting to be true, and once Tyki might have wanted to take that innocence and purity and crush it. But the boy was also charming and adorable, and the Portuguese man couldn't help but be drawn to him.

That was why, he told himself as he gently unlatched Allen's hand from his body, that he would do anything to keep them together. Even if what was tearing them apart was the boy himself.

The Third Apostle glanced at the sleeping Noah, before slipping out of bed and making his way out. He needed to find the Earl. They had a plan to make, after all.

– x –

Allen drifted into consciousness with a satisfied sigh. Tyki's bed was just _so_ warm and comfortable, he didn't feel like getting up. For the two days after Tyki was injured, he'd practically latched himself to the older man, refusing to leave, even when it came to sleeping. Allen usually wouldn't dare with such brash behaviour; he had always kept a careful distance from people, but he couldn't help it. Maybe it was the Noah instincts within him, or the knowledge that Tyki would leave him, and couldn't be taken away (the young Noah resolutely refused to think about exorcists doing just that), but either way, he felt comfortable being with the older man and it was a feeling he was entirely new to. Tyki for his part seemed to indulge Allen's sudden clinginess – welcome it even – so when the white haired boy decided to roll over and cuddle with the older man as he had done for the past few mornings, he was understandably surprised when there was nobody there.

The white haired Noah immediately shot up, looking around frantically for his missing companion.

"Tyki?"

A few agonisingly slow moments passed, before a sound came from the bathroom, and Tyki appeared with damp hair.

"Good morning, little one." He smiled.

Allen blinked. "Why are you up so early?" Tyki always liked to sleep in. Allen couldn't tell if it was just him, or part of being the Noah of Pleasure, but the older man would never get up early unless he absolutely had to.

"I can't afford to sleep in today unfortunately." He hummed, tucking in his shirt and rooting around for a jacket. "I have a mission today."

Allen's breath immediately caught in his throat, and his hands tightened on the sheets. "Today? But- but it's too soon!"

Tyki glanced at him mournfully. "I've already healed," he said, while buttoning up his jacket. "Plus, there's nobody else to go."

Allen's knuckles were almost white. "But what if you get hurt?"

The older Noah paused, turning around to face Allen properly. "It's only a retrieval mission," he reassured him gently. "But you know, you can't always be there to protect me. I'm a fully matured Noah. If anything, you're the one who needs protection, little one."

Allen swallowed. He knew he couldn't always go around with Tyki, especially if he was so unwilling to hurt others. It was just, he couldn't stand being away from the older Noah, and especially if he knew the other man was going out into danger. His inner Noah was demanding they stay together, and Allen would go insane if he had to let Tyki go out while he waited.

"Let me come too."

Tyki frowned. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Allen asked, trying not to sound hurt.

"Like I said, you're still young." The Noah explained. "And you can't handle bloodshed. I don't want you to see that, and I can't trust that nothing will happen to you if I left you alone, especially if I know you won't fight back."

"I can defend myself." The young Noah huffed.

"I know you can," Tyki replied. "But if people are trying to kill you, it's much more dangerous if you aren't trying to kill them too."

The white haired boy's face crumpled. He knew that, he really did, but he wanted to go. "Please?"

The Third Apostle sighed. "I'll ask the Earl."

The Earl was surprisingly supportive of the idea, saying that Allen could tag along – so long that Tyki could protect him. The Noah of Pleasure was grimacing the whole time, but when he saw how relieved Allen was, he gave in.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked, waiting for Allen to emerge from the bathroom.

"Yup!" The white haired boy bounded out, having dressed in record time after they were given the go ahead.

"Then let's go."

– x –

They arrived in a quaint, fairly rural village, and Allen thought it looked like the last place on earth that a Noah would be.

"What are we doing here again?"

"Just here to meet an informant," the older Noah said airily, glancing around.

Allen looked around as well, only just noticing how empty it was. There wasn't a soul in sight, and the young Noah frowned, feeling uneasy. There might have been a logical reason for it – maybe it was one of those European countries where everyone took a nap in the middle of the day (that had caught him out before) – but something inside him told the young Noah to be wary.

"Let's go."

All the streets were empty as well, and Allen was getting more and more uneasy. It came almost as a surprise then, when they reached the town square, to find what could be classified as a mob, lying in wait. Tyki blinked, coming to a halt, with one hand on Allen to keep him close-by.

"Do you think it's a trap?" He asked.

"There's the monster!" A person cried, and suddenly the entire group of humans were shouting and cursing at them. More people appeared out of nowhere and came up behind them, blocking the way back.

Allen nodded.

Tyki looked at the younger boy. "Hey, don't worry, okay?" He gave him a pat on the head. "These are only lowly sub-humans, I can take care of them easily."

Allen knew that. Even when he wasn't a Noah, with enhanced strength and powers, he could easily beat a bunch of regular people, and escape from a mob unscathed. Yet he was already on edge – his mounting bloodlust, and his inner Noah's increased reactivity to the Third Apostle getting him there. The fact that Tyki had recently been injured, that Allen still felt a little sleep deprived, and the mounting unease he felt when walking towards the trap only served to make him even more high strung. So he knew Tyki could take care of them, but he was still _this close _to snapping.

The younger boy nodded and Tyki gave him another pat on the head.

"Stay here."

The older Noah rushed forwards, tearing through the first couple of people with ease, Allen stayed back, ignoring the lurch of his inner Noah when he saw the blood being spilt. He wanted to do that, to _rip those humans apart, to cut them up in little pieces–_

Allen shook his head frantically. He did not. He did _not._

The young Noah looked towards Tyki once more to see him pull the heart out of one of them, and he repressed a shudder. He wanted to tell himself he was disgusted at the sight, that it didn't look appealing in the slightest. His inner Noah wasn't convinced.

Allen clutched at his head, firmly in denial. He wouldn't give in. He absolutely wouldn't give in.

And then, someone managed to hurt Tyki.

The Noah of Pleasure had his hands full, crushing the skull of one of the humans to mush, when another rushed forwards with a dagger in hand. Allen watched wide eyed and Tyki dropped the corpse he was holding, twisting around – but not before the blade nicked him, tearing his clothing and coming back with a bit of blood.

The young Noah saw red.

How dare... how _dare _that _pathetic_, _worthless human _hurt what was _his_.

And Allen was moving before he even knew it, speeding towards the offending human and grabbing him by the throat. The white haired boy grabbed him by the head and _pulled_, feeling a sick sort of satisfaction at the squelching sound the man made as his head was ripped from his body. The head fell to the floor with a wet _thunk_, and Allen grinned.

He wasn't done. The young Noah stomped on the decapitated head, pushing down until it caved in an burst open in a spray of blood and brain matter.

But there were more. There were tons more of these horrible, vile humans, who dared attack what was his. He grabbed another – a woman – and thrust his arm through her abdomen, tearing it back out to let her go down, gurgling on blood. Another, he broke the neck of, and the next he ripped the arms off, leaving her to go down wailing and bleed to death.

Again, he tore, and he ripped, and pulled and killed and killed and _killed._ He didn't stop, not until there was nobody else left to kill, and he was standing, surrounded by corpses and breathing heavily.

Allen froze, his eyes widening. He had killed– he had _murdered_ all those people. He ripped them apart as if they were dolls and revelled in it. The young Noah stumbled backwards, but there were sure, strong arms to catch him and wrap around him.

"Shh, little Noah. You did well." A deep voice spoke into his ear, and Allen immediately relaxed at the sound of the Third Apostle.

"_Shh_, you did well. You did so well."

Tyki held on to the trembling boy, both of them covered in blood, while he sang praises in his ear, and smiled.

"Good boy. You did so well."


End file.
